Prayer as Covenant
“Where does prayer come from? Whether prayer is expressed in
words or gestures, it is the whole man who prays. But in naming the source of
prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of
the heart (more than a thousand times). According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. ... The heart is the
dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical
expression, the heart is the place ‘to which I withdraw.’ The heart is our
hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of
God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of
decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we
choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we
live in relation: it is the place of covenant. ... Christian prayer is a covenant
relationship between God and man in Christ...”
(From the Catechism of
the Catholic Church)
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